Diesel discount extended to September 5: decree approved, cost 130 million

The Council of Ministers approved on August 26 a decree law on oil prices that extends from August 27 to September 5 the 17-cent-per-liter reduction on diesel (ANSA). The meeting had been called at the end of Monday’s majority summit, which we reported on August 25.

The mechanism is the same one used in previous weeks: the excise duty on diesel drops to 532.90 euros per thousand liters, equal to fourteen cents per liter less, plus three cents from lower VAT. The same rate applies to paraffinic diesel and biodiesel (FIGISC-Confcommercio). The measure remains limited to diesel: gasoline is not affected.

According to government sources, the cost of the extension is approximately 130 million euros (il Giornale). The material available today does not indicate the source of funding for that amount: on this point the decree must be read in the published text.

The extension is not presented as a solution. After September 5, the government has indicated its intention to move to selective support based on income, with forms yet to be defined (ANSA). This is the hypothesis that already emerged from Monday’s summit, now confirmed as the direction of work but currently lacking parameters: no income thresholds, target groups, or disbursement mechanisms are known. The gap between a uniform excise duty, which applies automatically to anyone refueling, and income-conditional support, which requires selection criteria and a payment channel, is technically significant and must be bridged by September 5.

The price framework this measure responds to is that of the August 23 survey by the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy: 2.010 euros per liter for gasoline and 2.130 for diesel, in self-service mode on the road network (FIGISC-Confcommercio). This data predates the August 26 decree and therefore does not reflect the effects of the extension.

Criticism of the measure has come from Codacons, which called it “a watered-down measure that leaves all motorists dissatisfied” (Euronews). The available material reports the consumer association’s judgment, not the specific reasons on which it is based.

In the same session, the Council of Ministers approved a second decree law on the operational continuity of plants of national strategic interest, referring to former Ilva (ANSA).

The next deadline is September 5: by that date the government must present the instrument that will replace the uniform discount, or arrange for a new extension.